


The Gamer is a Part-Timer!

by Sersi



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Disabled Character, M/M, Pro-Gaming, Romantic Comedy, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-03-16 09:45:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13633764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sersi/pseuds/Sersi
Summary: Sasuke Uchiha is a popular gamer on a streaming site! With the support of his fiancé he uses the revenue from his job to pay his fraction of the bills.





	1. Gaming isn't easy!

**Author's Note:**

> This story uses fake brands and fictional companies in the place of real ones to set the scene. It's intentionally semi-realistic!

“Thank you.”

Sasuke deadpanned as he turned his mouse and panned the camera in the direction of his character’s new target. Dark, depthless black eyes were focused on the computer screen as he played his game, streaming the broadcast of both his face and the gameplay on Tic. Everytime Sasuke earned a new subscriber, a screen-name accompanied with a plethora of emojis and the amount of money they’d decided to give him popped up in the bottom right corner of his screen. He didn’t manage to say ‘thank you’ every time he got a subscriber since there was a steady ‘blip’ on his screen. “Hn.”

Sasuke Uchiha was an up and coming Tic streamer in a small group of streamers under the moniker ‘Konoha.’ Gaining followers by the thousands every week, his name was climbing higher and higher on the search engine’s results. He’d settled into the role of ‘pro-gamer.’ His revenue from his ‘occupation’ went to his portions of the bills.

Every now and then he’d click his mouse twice. His streaming team ‘Konoha’ was on a raid. Sasuke wasn’t talkative, though the viewers were given the option of watching Sasuke’s daily stream, Kiba’s, or Yuta’s. A generous handful of Konoha’s collective fanbase liked Sasuke’s calm, collected demeanor and handsome face. His no-nonsense approach to gaming was refreshing in a sea of loud men with dyed hair and girls with their breasts out. And on top of that a lot of his younger fans swooned over him like a celebrity. 

“Thank you.” 

Another reason his fans followed him was for the warm, comfy reds, golds and browns of his bedroom. His camera swallowed a good fraction of his room and the viewers enjoyed falling into illusion. He didn’t have snacks and drinks littered across his desk in a mess. Instead, he had a single bottle of water with a squeeze of lemon he’d rarely go for during his stream. On top of that, every now and then Sasuke’s fiancé came home a little early and the fans were given a sneak peek of his love-life. He always moved out of view and spoke in hushed whispers with his lips pressed his lover’s skin whenever the camera was on, but his viewers went gaga for that. _Every time he kissed the blond’s knuckles his stream’s chat was spammed with hearts._

Sasuke’s eyes ticked down to the feed to read a few of the comments from his ‘fans.’ A few were mentioning the time. Two-thirty. Sasuke usually stopped streaming around three for an hour or two to spend time with his fiancé. The other members of his team’s viewers skyrocketed around that time. They moved from Sasuke’s site to other members of Konoha. They always seemed to retreat whenever he returned. Loyalty.

The team’s raid was going to persist into the evening and Sasuke was playing the top carry in their team. Kiba was riffing jokes and making friends with his subscribers; the rest of the team were working hard to keep him from dying prematurely in the dungeon. Each guild was only permitted one entry/attempt a day. Hearing a rapid succession of ‘blip’ noises, Sasuke tipped his head down. His brow quirked at the feed. With an ongoing raid, the subscribers chose to remind Sasuke of the time. “I’ve got it.” Persistence isn’t attractive. Sasuke used a hand to hold up a finger (Not that one.) at the camera. “I’ll stay for another hour.” He pressed the spacebar on his keyboard before using that hand to prop his head up without bothering the expensive headset he was wearing. 

A continuous barrage of attacks along with two sets of turrets and an attentive cleric allowed Konoha to defeat the boss. Huge, golden letters bounced onto each of Konoha’s player’s screens to signify their win. Their characters began doing their predetermined victory poses. In the midst of Sasuke’s character’s folding his arms and turning his back to the screen, he disappeared in a cyan flash of light. 

Click. Click. Click. 

Sasuke closed an eye and slid his hand out from under his cheek to type a message to Kiba and the others.

* * *

**Sasaukage:** I’m going for the night. My arm hurts.  
**Redfang:** but it’s not real o.o  
**YutaTube:** Kiba! Stfu dude, if his arm hurts, it hurts  
**Redfang:** i’m jus saying xx it’s not there is it?!  
**Sasaukage:** It _is_ possible to feel a phantom limb when you don’t have an arm.  
**YutaTube:** ;;  
**Sasaukage:** That is not my current issue. I need to go.  
**Redfang:** kk, can you say gb to the viewers? on camera? :D  
**Sasaukage:** There’s the door—

_[Sasaukage] is offline._

* * *

Can you blame him? 

Sasuke wasn’t a pop star or a MewTube personality. He didn’t want to speak to his fans. He didn’t know any of those people, and he didn't want to.

Removing his headset and placing it on the desk, Sasuke combed his fingers through his hair, brushing his bangs out of his eye until the jet-black threads fall back into place. Sliding back in his cushioned swivel chair, Sasuke used his real hand to massage the sore skin at the point that his shoulder connected with his prosthetic. Playing these games required applying a constant pressure there. Lucky for him his prosthetic was a perfect fit. The day he’d gotten his prosthetic was a very tough one. His fiancé suggested prosthesis. The suggestion wasn’t the reason he made the leap. He made the choice on his own. His decision to become a professional gamer was an extension of that. He wanted to prove his worth with a ‘fake’ arm. 

_Naruto_ supported every part of his lifestyle. 

He tipped his head back and stared up at the ceiling, counting the bumps and stars in his bleary vision. Was this his ‘best life?’ Naruto was always talking about living your best life. For a while his mind drifted to his fiancé’s big smile and yellow hair and he just stared at the ceiling with an intensifying glint in his dark eyes and a flat look on his good-looking face. As long as Naruto loved him, he was living his best life. He heard the alarm notifying residents of the front door opening, and Naruto kicking off his shoes. He heard a crinkly bag skidding across the hardwood floor and slipped out of the master bedroom to greet him.

“Hey, Naruto.”

Sasuke met Naruto during his freshman year of high school. He had golden-brown skin with copper undertones that shone on the apples of his cheeks. A shiny head of tow-colored hair that framed his face like an ill-fitting crown, and iridescent eyes. He was a very loud and gestural person that snatched his goals with both hands, but he was witty, reckless and compassionate. 

Sasuke oft came to school with a bad mood, and Naruto was always the first to notice. Time passed, and they attended prom every year, took pictures together and kissed in public. Naruto's warm personality melted the icy layer that encapsulated Sasuke's heart. Cliche, very cliche, but he'd grown to love him. For better or worse, or something like that. (He hasn't written his vows.) 

Naruto was balancing on one leg and pulling a sock from the toes on the opposite foot. He placed an empty cup of sudoh-bucks on the edge of the counter, the lingering smell of coffee on the lip of the top. His bag was filled to the brim with colorful school-themed supplies. Curly bulletin borders, comically large pencils, tiny frog pencil-toppers and cardboard standups. Whenever he got home from a hard day’s work he didn’t want to see the bag at all. Naruto tipped his head up and smiled from ear to tanned ear at his partner. “Sasuke!” He half-whined, half-barked as he launched his body at the brunet’s. He wrapped his arms around Sasuke’s shoulders and pressed their cheeks together. Sasuke rubbed small circles in Naruto’s back. “Bad day?” Instead of a verbal answer, Naruto shook his head thrice and wiped his lips on Sasuke’s jaw. 

“My feet _hurt_!” He complained.

Relieved, Sasuke gave his lover a wry smile and pressed a few chaste, wet kisses across his throat, up and down his chin and against the curve of an ear. Sasuke and Naruto were the same height with a slight difference in their builds. These sort of observations only becoming evident at times like this with Naruto’s arms wrapped around Sasuke’s shoulders and Sasuke’s arms twined at his waist. 

Naruto closed his eyes and placed his weight comfortably on the brunet’s. “Mm, did you get a lot of viewers on your stream today?” He asked, putting on a ‘knowing’ voice without knowing anything at all.

In actuality, Naruto taught Pre-K 3 and didn’t have an online presence. The students he ‘taught’ were babies that came directly from daycare. With his spirited personality, impressionable, tiny children learned a handful of views from him. Naruto's students loved him. He was the bright, yellow-haired teacher that wore all orange and decorated his classroom with frogs and 'spinnies' and screamed his greeting to every teacher that passed his door. He read story books with voices and made cookies for the class every Friday.

“Yeah, I got a few new subscribers.” A few was an understatement though he wasn’t going to bore Naruto with the details.

Naruto rubbed his forehead against Sasuke’s and met sable-black eyes with a pair of sapphire blue. “Were you more friendly?” He didn’t expect his fiancé to be overly nice or talkative, but he understood the ‘business.’ When Sasuke came to him about this streaming idea, he watched a lot of different streamers, MewTubers, podcasts in an attempt to learn something new about the brunet’s interests. All he really learned was that his boo was a little _mean_ for a social business involving talking to an impressionable young audience. 

Sasuke was an introvert and chose the lifestyle of a NEET on his own, Naruto was the opposite.

“Mn.” Sasuke hummed his non-answer and received a teasing nip on the lobe of his ear. “Kh—” Another nip. Sasuke tipped his head to the side and closed his eyes. “Fine. No. I wasn’t ‘more friendly,’ and I had a damn good reason not to be.”

Naruto leaned back to look at Sasuke’s face. “Why’s that?”

Sasuke flicked his neck and threw his bangs out of his eye before releasing Naruto from his hold and padding to the kitchen to grab a drink from the fridge. Naruto followed after Sasuke, trying to get a good look at his face. Sasuke grabbed a carton of orange juice, twisted the cap off, and downed a few glugs of citrusy goodness. 

“Sasuke!” 

Gh. “Kiba was being a dick.” Sasuke shrugged. He moved to place the carton back in the fridge in record time to get a good look at Naruto’s expression twisting. The blond wore his heart on his sleeve and had a very _intense_ reaction to things involving Sasuke. In this case, his tow-colored lashes hooded his eyes, his mouth turned upside-down in a frown and the ‘whiskers’ on his face gleamed menacingly in the light of a freshly changed CFL bulb.

“Kiba...Kiba, the other guy on your streaming team, right? Did he say something mean to you? Where does he live?!”

0 to 100.

“Naruto.” Sasuke flicked his shoulder. “Chill. He just made a comment about my arm.”

Immediately after saying that, Sasuke regretted it. As a means of distraction he was walking to the pantry and looking in it. Another quick glance at Naruto’s knitted golden brow and Sasuke was ducking to find something to make for dinner. Pasta, panko, peas. “Are you hungry? I’m hungr-”

“I can’t _believe_ him! I shoul—”

“ **Babe.** ”

Naruto snapped out of his ‘trance’ and glanced at Sasuke with his eyes widened. He loved that pet name. Sasuke used it rarely, strategically, and every single time Naruto heard it his cheeks turned rufous. “Yes?” Naruto chimed, dark blue eyes peeking out from slivers of the tasteful coppers and golds mixing to make the blond’s warm skin tone. Sasuke closed the pantry door and ‘smiled’ at Naruto. His partner had a habit of putting ugly looks on his face. The saving grace was that he _loved_ the face wearing them. The corner of his mouth raised a centimeter and his resting bitch face changed for just a brief moment. 

“Dinner. What are we making for dinner?”

* * *

The next morning Naruto woke up a little earlier than usual and took a brisk shower. He hopped around the room to get his clothes on and pulled his polo shirt over his head, buttoning up as he looked on the dresser for his necessities. Phone, keys, wallet, charger. He stuffed his pockets and walked over to Sasuke’s side of the bed to pepper morning kisses across his dermis. Sasuke stirred and dug his hands out from beneath the duvet to grab either side of Naruto’s face. _Smch!_ Their kiss was prolonged by Naruto leaning over the brunet and parting his lips to dip his tongue into Sasuke’s mouth. 

“It’s Friday, `Suke. I’ll be home early.” 

Sasuke tiredly bobbed his head and rubbed the corner of an eye with his index finger. “Mrm, can you bring me back a new mouse pad?”

Naruto loomed over Sasuke, batting his tawny lashes. “Why?” Sasuke waved his hand back and forth. “My wrist.”

Naruto frowned. “Why play a game that makes your wrist hurt?”

Sasuke slid his hands back under the blanket. “Why are we fussing?”

“We’re not fussing, Sasuke, it’s just weird that you’d play the game i—”

Sasuke made a point of yawning. Loudly. 

Rolling his eyes, Naruto pressed a kiss to Sasuke’s forehead. “ See you in a few hours.” Sasuke nods and burrows his way back under the duvet, leaving the view of his inky black crown of hair. 

Naruto smiled and pushed his hands against the mattress to stand up. Sasuke found comfort in the sounds of Naruto gathering his things in the kitchen. First, he went into the fridge and grabbed a carton (Sasuke guessed milk.) and poured a tall glass to down. Second, he heard him grab a box, presumably the box of cookies he’d prepared for his students. And finally, he placed his glass in the sink. 

The alarm beeped as Naruto left the house.

Sasuke didn’t leave the bed for another two hours.

* * *

Back at the gaming rig, Sasuke sat down on his swivel chair with a knee bent and his leg pulled to his chest, chin placed on top of the knee. Macrosoft panned across the flat screen of his main monitor as he started up his computer. The second monitor’s screensaver whirled around the screen on standby. He spoke to the other members of Konoha about a PVP session with a bored look on his face. 

The subject changed from the daily check-in to ways the team could win the upcoming competitive season of their current game. As with other games the competitive season was one of the most important parts. Competitors fought tooth and nail for high rankings, to be recognized site-wide for their skills. Sasuke wanted to be at the top of every list on the website. Job, world, level, he wanted to be the very best. (Infringement barred.) His team on the other hand, namely Kiba, were likely more interested in the fame that accompanied their job. This was an opportunity to use their skills shown to their subscribers as a gimmick to earn more of them. Sasuke didn't have an outward opinion on his 'fans' seeing as a large fraction of them were rightfully shallow people watching his streams for his face. 

Even during the drawn out chats between the members of Konoha, Sasuke kept his opinions to himself. He wasn't in any position to tell Kiba to stop trying to become famous. Everyone has a dream. 

Sasuke slid his leg down from his chair and rolled the wheels forward to get closer to the computer screen. His body language changed depending on the topic of their conversation.

* * *

**Redfang:** you guys wanna win the sesh right? 30k viewers xxx  
**KminHaruo:** duh but that’s what we’re gonna do  
**Redfang:** did you download that stuff?  
**YutaTube:** ...yeah but /:  
**KminHaruo:** oh here we go, yuta’s gonna say smth  
**Sasaukage:** The client, right? I’ve downloaded it.  
**YutaTube:** guys...  
**YutaTube:** ////:  
**Sasaukage:** It’s fine. We always win.  
**Redfang:** not a pussy for once, sasa? hue  
**Sasaukage:** That’s not my name.

* * *

The PVP match started unceremoniously and every member of the team used the hacking client as Kiba ‘suggested.’ An aimbot, autohit, autoblock and hitbox. Each match flew by for Konoha. Click. Click.

This isn't fun. He's not playing the game.

Even their fans were debating whether or not they should be cheering them on. Their usual sea of emojis was halved. 

Soon, Konoha was flying in the ranks and Sasaukage was a few ticks from #1. 

Most of his subscribers migrated to Kiba’s stream for the day because competitive matches are funnier on a loud, social butterfly’s page. Every time Kiba won he howled like a dog and everyone spammed the chat with a custom dog emoji he’d made after his dog. (Another benefit of watching Kiba’s stream. The dog was in every video.)

Running a hacking client was simple work. A window popped up with the options and the user ticked off the perks they wanted to use in the match. As for _playing the game_ , Konoha sacrificed that tiny detail for fame. Click. Click. Sasuke’s full potential was being wasted in Konoha.

The alarm beeped, the door opened, and Naruto’s bag skid across the hardwood floor. The front door closed, and Naruto raided the fridge for a drink and grabbed an apple from the small basket on the bar. He rinsed the apple under cool water and took a big bite. Leaning back against the counter, Naruto enjoyed his snack. 

Without moving from his swivel chair, Sasuke’s eyes averted for a moment. “N-” Shifting. He looked back at the computer to focus on the game. He pressed a few keys on his keyboard before adjusting his headset. “My fiancé’s home.” 

The fans were pouring out at Sasuke’s announcement, save for the loyal few that preferred his stream even as he was winding down. 

There was a user that was paying special attention to Sasuke’s stream. The way his character continued to move even as he looked back at the sound of the front door opening, the way he averted attacks without moving his mouse, and the way his character jumped without pressing the spacebar.

Sasaukage was hacking.

Naruto entered the bedroom a few minutes after tossing the apple core in the trash. He slid his socks across the carpet, stalking over to Sasuke and wrapping his arms around his shoulders. He pressed his chin against the dip between nape and shoulder. “Hey, `Suke, you playing the game?” Naruto asked with his usual vulpine smile on his face, almond-shaped eyes creased. Naruto didn’t use a particular game’s name seeing as he didn’t bother with remembering any of them. 

“Mm.” 

“I got your mouse pad.”

“Mm.”

When Naruto finally opened his eyes he had a clearer view of the game, Sasuke’s feed, and a hacking client. He’d never seen that on Sasuke’s computer screen before! Blink blink. Trying to maintain his focus, Sasuke nuzzled into Naruto’s cheekbone and across the point of his nose before clicking a few more ‘privileges’ on the client and defeating another opponent in comp. Naruto narrowed his eyes until they closed. “What’re we eating tonight?” Naruto asked with a fox’s curl of the lips. 

“We can order something, I’m really not in the mood to-” 

Sasuke stopped mid-sentence (An indicator of shock and awe, guys.) as his computer’s screen turned black. 

Naruto held on tight to the brunet’s shoulders. “What happened?” The stream watched in real time as Naruto and Sasuke gawked at the computer screen. _ALT+TAB_ , **LOGIN.**

Attempting to log in. . .

_Login Error.  
This account has been permanently suspended._

Bright blue eyes peeked through lids of dark sun-kissed skin, to the reflection of Sasuke’s look of distress. His heart thrummed in his chest and his vision was reduced to a small pinhole. His stomach was tied in knots, his mind began to wander and his hands began to shake. Somehow, throughout all of it, he kept his composure. The gut-wrenching feeling didn’t pull a peep out of him. 

The chat feed was lighting up with messages and spammed emoticons with a few messages from his subscribers telling his fiancé 'Hello!' Naruto and Sasuke were too busy staring at the screen to wave or smile at the camera. 

His mind was running a mile a minute, attempting to crack the ‘case.’ He figured that his account was compromised, or one of the other members of Konoha logged in and their IP triggered an automatic suspension. For some odd reason, the last thing he considered was that he'd been caught for 'hacking' during the live stream. _He'd even thought that his account was being suspended because someone reported him for kill-stealing._

“...” Quietly, Sasuke re-entered his login and pressed enter. 

**. . .**

_Please check the email associated with this account for more information._

< _Whenever online games suspend an account, there's a brief feeling of dread that **swells** in the pit of your stomach and pulls at the very center of your chest. Everything is moving in slow motion and your head is **throbbing**. All of the 'answers' you want are **unavailable** save for a FAQ page of the site you’ve probably never bothered to read. By then, you're supposed to accept that you've been **removed**. Suspended._ _Banned._ >

After staring at the screen for a few more seconds, Sasuke reached his hand up to turn off the feed of his livestream. 

Naruto slowly unraveled his arms from his fiancé’s neck and stood up straight, placing his hands on his sides. “Sasuke…” Naruto started, reaching a hand over to place on the brunet’s shoulder. An assuring squeeze in the place of a ‘pep talk’ since Naruto didn’t really know what a gamer needs to hear.

_[Sasaukage] has been kicked from **Konoha.**_

i.


	2. Banned.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke was banned, Naruto's a band-aid. (Get it?)

“What happened?” Naruto asks curiously standing a few spaces behind Sasuke in the swivel chair. Sasuke folds his hands one over the other and places his chin on top. “I guess I was banned.”

It took Naruto a moment to ‘react’ to that. As long as he remembered, Sasuke was a stickler for the rules of his games because his goal was to make people feel awful without any silly enhancements. And now he was admitting his consequence to a poor decision. “M-Maa…” Naruto drawled as he reached a hand out to place on Sasuke’s right shoulder, using his free hand to point his index finger at the main computer screen. “You were kicked from your group, too?”

Sasuke’s eyes widened and his fingers moved at lightspeed to type in the search bar. Enter. Click. Next, next. His eyes widened, defeatedly watching Kiba and Yuta’s streams. They weren’t hacking anymore. And on top of that Kiba was using his ‘humor’ to deflect any accusations from his fans directed at him. Anything directed at Sasuke was left to fester. 

“That little snake. . .” Sasuke whispered under his breath before tipping his head up to look at Naruto. “They’ve stopped early to avoid getting in trouble.” He used his mouse to click over to Yuta’s stream. Yuta wasn’t even in the camera’s view. He must’ve stepped away because of the stress. 

“To avoid getting in trouble? But if they’re running the hacker thing-” 

“They’re pinning it all on me.”

Naruto pulled his hand back from the computer’s monitor. “That’s…” He placed his hand down at his side. “...horrible…”

Sasuke closed his eyes and exited Tic. 

Breathe in, breathe out.

“Sasuke, you’re not-”

“I can’t continue streaming.”

Naruto used his index and middle fingers to scratch behind an ear, closing his eyes in his usual, fox-like dormant expression. “And the revenue?”

“No.”

Naruto ‘stared’ at the back of Sasuke’s head behind thick, yellowy lashes before taking a few steps back and turning on his heel. “Mmm.” After a sufficient ‘thinking noise’ Naruto walked off for a moment leaving Sasuke to stew in his thoughts. 

Sasuke pushed his swivel chair back and stood up to stretch. 

He entered the kitchen to see Naruto scouring the pantry for a snack. Naruto emerged with a bag of sugar cookies and a bottled water. He popped the bag open and placed the small of his back against the counter. Staring up at the ceiling as he nibbled on his cookies, Naruto closed his eyes with a thoughtful ‘hrm’ tossed in Sasuke’s direction. “What are you going to do now?” The blond asked, looking over his shoulder.

Sasuke folds his arms over his chest and tips his head down. For once, he didn’t have an answer. He didn’t know the ‘next step.’ This was a situation he’d never been in before. He flicked his neck to get his bangs out of his face and glanced over at his fiancé. Naruto was too busy scarfing down sugar cookies to feel the eyes on him. 

Licking crystals of sugar off of the back of his fingers, Naruto sighed his approval. “Doesn’t this mean you don’t have a job now?” Closing the distance between the two of them, the blond reached his hands out to cup Sasuke’s face, pressing their lips together once, twice, three times before pushing the tip of his nose beneath his lover’s chin.

“No.” Sasuke deadpanned as he lowered his hands to wrap around Naruto’s middle. As Naruto’s head went down, Sasuke’s went up. He placed his chin on top of Naruto’s yellowy crown of hair and rubbed into his scalp. 

“You know what that means, don’t you?”

“Mm?”

* * *

Sasuke held his arms out for Naruto to lay shirts on his outstretched limbs. “Oh, I _really_ like this one.” He tossed another shirt over Sasuke’s arm and disappeared into the clothing jungle for a few more articles. “Buttons are good.” As he emerged, he placed the next shirt on Sasuke’s arm. “Do you want a tie?” 

A dull glint shone in Sasuke’s dark eyes. “Why are we doing this?”

Naruto scratched at his cheek with an index finger as he thumbed at a pinstripe shirt with the other hand. “We’re going to find a few outfits and get you an interview.” Raising his hands to shrug, Naruto closed his eyes. “You don’t have a job and you need one.” 

This wasn’t the way Naruto wanted to spend his Friday. And he didn’t want to spend his weekend finding Sasuke a job but he wasn’t going to be supporting them on his own until Sasuke groveled for his ‘job’ back. He’s just going to have to work somewhere else. The rec center will have to wait.

“I really like the collar on this one.” After placing that shirt on Sasuke’s arm, Naruto took a step back. “Go try all of these on. Come out after each one, I want to see ‘em.”

Sasuke’s mouth dipped into a deep frown and he slowly dragged his feet over to the dressing rooms. He was given a little card with a number on it. (Indicating the number of shirts he was holding.) He placed the hangers on the hook on the other side of the door and pulled his own shirt over his head. Looking at his reflection in the long mirror he narrowed his eyes at his pale, soft tummy and squishy arms. He really needed to hit the gym. The first shirt Sasuke grabbed was an all-white polo shirt. A perfect fit. He stepped out of the dressing room and looked for Naruto.

Naruto was talking to the attendant in front of the dressing rooms, propping his face up with one hand against his cheek. He stopped mid-conversation to look at Sasuke and smiled from ear to ear. “You look so good!” 

He pressed a hand up against his mouth to emulate whispering as he loudly talked to the attendant, a woman in her twenties with coffee-brown hair worn in two matching buns on either side of her head. Naruto leaned over the counter playfully. “I think I’m going to marry him.” He winked at Sasuke. The young woman laughed and smiled.

Sasuke’s cheeks turned a traitorous red and he balled his hands into fists before trying to straighten up. “Hn. Think.” He flicked his bangs out of his eyes. With a quick glance at the ring on Naruto’s finger, he smirked and backed back into the dressing room. He wouldn’t tell Naruto but the little comments like that were some of his favorite. 

The next shirt he tried was more up his alley. An all-black shirt with long sleeves that made him look like the Sasuke he liked best. This time, he reached a hand up and carded his hair back out of his face. Instead of stepping out of the stall, Sasuke opened the door and peeked over at Naruto. 

“Naruto, c’mere.”

Naruto clasped his hands together apologetically and bowed his head to the attendant. “Sorry, I’ll be right back.” Teetering over to the dressing room, he opened the door and peeked inside before going in and closing the door behind him. “Sasuke, that shirt’s especially good on you.”

A smile inched at Sasuke’s features for just a moment before he reached his arms out and pulled Naruto in for a well-deserved kiss. His arms were folded at the small of Naruto’s back, and the blond’s arms were draped over his shoulders. Kiss. Kiss. 

“Mm, wait.” Naruto pressed his forehead against Sasuke’s. 

Sasuke growled his disapproval and pressed his body against his fiancé’s. His hands were searching his body desperately for a warmth he was trying to start in this cramped space and- “Sasuke, you can’t use sex to make you feel better about being banned.”

_Banned._

**Banned.**

In that moment the word ‘banned’ was flashing in Sasuke’s vision like dots from staring at a fluorescent light. Naruto’s voice echoed in his mind and he stilled. He pulled Naruto forward and stepped back, pressing his back against the wall of the dressing room and sliding down onto the bench with Naruto on his lap. A sad day for the Uchiha. 

Naruto seen the expression that Sasuke had on his face and sought to make him feel better with a few oddly placed kisses juxtaposed up his clavicle to the ball in his throat. “Stop moping. Here.” Naruto placed his legs on either side of Sasuke’s waist, pressed his hands on his shoulders and… 

“Nnm…”

Their voices turned to whispers. 

Naruto knew intimately that banging in a dressing room was uncomfortable. And the shower, and a car, a hallway, the back of a pick-up truck, and a broom closet. These were all lessons he learned ‘fooling around’ with Sasuke. (He never really used that phrase.)

“Move your leg that way.”

“If I move my leg any further I’ll be doing a split, Sasuke.”

“Move your arm.” 

Continually talking back and forth, the pair didn’t even notice that the young woman that allowed them to enter the dressing room was standing at the door, clearing her throat loudly in an attempt at getting their attention. For a moment, Naruto ignored it, rationalizing it as a person in another stall with a cold. (Whom really shouldn’t be trying on clothes if that’s the case!) 

A little while later, though, Naruto tipped his head towards the door. 

“H-Hello? Guys? Sirs? You really shouldn’t be doing er, that.” 

Naruto’s cheeks were bright red in color. “What does she think we’re doing?!” Blond brows knit and his fingers dig into Sasuke’s shoulders.

Sasuke gives a quiet grunt and nestles his chin against the notch between his fiancé’s collarbones.

* * *

In the end, Naruto picked out three shirts for Sasuke to wear. A slimming black button-up, a sharp blazer in bold red, and a crisp white polo. Tossing the bag in the backseat of the car, Naruto sat in the passenger’s seat and looked out the window. “There. Now you have cute clothes for a job interview.”

“Hn.”

Naruto peeked over at Sasuke and huffed through his nostrils, a teasing smile on his lips. “Don’t ‘hn’ me, you’re going to find a job. You need sustainability. _We_ need more money.” 

Sasuke kept his eyes on the road and kept his lips zipped seeing as he didn’t have a retort for that. Naruto made a great point. They had a pretty big house, and Naruto’s job as a teacher probably wasn’t going to keep them afloat for very long if Sasuke’s income was null. 

“What type of job do you think you’d like, Sasuke?”

Naruto’s eyes followed joggers, people on bikes, the occasional motorcycle, and other things that happened to pass them in their car. 

For a moment, the only sound was the pop song on the radio. 

“Sasuke?”

Sasuke tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. 

He didn’t have an answer for that. This gaming thing was the closest thing to a career he’d ever had. Naruto and Sasuke knew each other throughout high school and college and Sasuke never seemed to have a steady idea for his future. He took his core classes without settling on a major. 

“Sasuke!” 

“Look, I didn’t plan on leaving Konoha.” 

Naruto glared at his fiancé. “Stop saying it like that! Konoha isn’t a place, and you didn’t leave it.” 

Sasuke exhaled audibly and stared at the road. 

Naruto kept looking at Sasuke for a long moment before finally turning his head the other way. “Stop pouting, Sasuke.” Naruto pressed his knuckles against his cheek and looked out the window beneath the hood of glossy, golden lashes. 

Naruto’s stomach filled the tense, partial silence with loud whale noises. 

“Ne, Sasuke, I’m hungry!” Naruto whined. For whatever reason, despite teaching young children, he still had a childish streak of his own that shone brightest whenever he was with his partner. He curled forward with his hands over his belly, movement restricted in the slightest because of the safety of the seat belt. “Can we find somewhere t’ eat?” Naruto poked his bottom lip out and quivered it for his husband-to-be’s sympathy. 

Sasuke flicked his bangs out of face. “Mm.”

* * *

For lunch, Sasuke and Naruto stopped at a fast-casual burger restaurant. They shared fries and a drink and had separate burgers to suit their own tastes. (Sasuke wouldn’t eat a burger drenched in sauce the way Naruto does.)

Naruto decided to save the job-talk for a little later. Between bites of his burger, he fed Sasuke french fries and rested his cheek on his shoulder. “Mmmm, I’m tired.” Naruto complained, taking a quick sip of their shared soda. 

“It’s barely three.”

“And it feels like seven! I wanna take a nap, Suke.” Naruto wiped his fiancé’s bottom lip with his thumb. 

Sasuke gave a quick kiss to the pad of Naruto’s thumb before grabbing his hand and smooching his knuckles. Naruto tiredly wiped his lips against Sasuke’s shoulder before yawning. Eating fries in twos, the Uchiha looked out the window and up at the sun and the clear blue sky. Despite the craptastic events of the week, the sky was beautiful. (Although he’s never seen a prettier blue than the rich color of Naruto’s eyes.)

Sasuke ate around the fries that were drowning in ketchup. 

“Sasuke…”

“Hm.”

“You need a haircut.”

Sasuke grabbed their drink to take a quick sip. “Not this again.”

Naruto reached his hand up to brush Sasuke’s hair out of his eyes. “It’s too long! You look like the lead singer of a punk rock band.” 

Every time Naruto put his hand in Sasuke’s face, Sasuke leaned back and Naruto pushed forward until he was inevitably invading the Uchiha’s lap and brushing his hair back and pinning it up with his hands to see both of Sasuke’s jet-black eyes. “I miss seeing both of these at the same time.” Naruto complained, his own eyes were closed in that usually foxy way they tend to whenever he’s talking smack. (Even the loving kind.) 

Naruto always had a way of making Sasuke feel like a teenager again. He’d do little, teasing things that made Sasuke feel young, loved, and happy. 

He never slacked on the amount of love he gave him. And on top of that, he didn’t treat Sasuke like a porcelain doll. When Sasuke lost his arm, Naruto didn’t stop jumping on him, or sitting on his lap, or dragging him all over. He didn’t seem to hesitate in placing his weight on Sasuke. And Sasuke loved that. 

Keeping both of his hands threaded in Sasuke’s hair, Naruto poked his lips out as a request for a kiss from his fiancé.

Sasuke gave Naruto a firm kiss and an even firmer slap on the backside before tipping his head. “C’mon.”

Naruto (ironically) heaved a sigh, expecting more than just a kiss.

* * *

Back in the car, Naruto checked his email on his phone and placed it in one of the cupholders. “There’s a kid in my class that reminds me of you, Sasuke.” Naruto took Sasuke’s silence as an invitation to continue talking. “He’s not very talkative, but he’s really smart. He has the biggest vocabulary in the class.” Naruto pressed his index finger against his cheek and chin as he looked up at the clouds making an otherwise clear blue sky stained. 

“Whenever he’s around his friends, he seems happier. He’s not explicitly telling me that he’s happier but I can feel that he is.”

Naruto peeked at Sasuke. “Most people are happier around people they care about, mind you. Being alone feels bad. But when you have someone you love, all that tough stuff doesn’t seem tough, you know?”

“Articulate.” Sasuke noted wryly. 

Naruto’s hand seeks out Sasuke’s. “Yeah?”

Sasuke smirked. 

Soon, the blond was rubbing circles on the back of Sasuke’s hand with his thumb. Another upbeat pop song was on the radio, a song Naruto knew the lyrics to and wouldn’t sing and that Sasuke refused to learn the lyrics of, and didn’t like to hear. 

‘Quiet’ moments are usually the most comfortable, in Sasuke’s opinion. He’d spend his time reflecting on his love for his fiancé and all the positive little anecdotes he spun to make him happy and—

“You should start practicing smiling _now_ so you’ll be ready for interviews later!”

ii.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I hope you're still interested. Ironically, I was hyper-focused on an online game's competitive Season. (Sorry for the delay!)


	3. An Intermission and a Job?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke found a job!

Naruto was laying upside down on the sofa in the living room, sucking on an ice-cream bar and reading a manga. He was wearing a cropped tank and patterned boxer shorts. Every time he turned the page of his manga, he snickered. Yonkoma gag comics were the best. 

Sasuke entered the living room, adjusting the tie he was wearing and sighing as he reached the back of the couch. He looked over to stare at his fiancé with a plain look on his face. “Naruto.” He starts, folding his arms and leaning his limbs on the top of the furniture. “I got a job.”

“ _Eeeh_?!” 

Sputtering on the melting ice-cream in his mouth, Naruto choked and began coughing and sat up to pull the popsicle stick out of his mouth. His manga fell to the floor and he held his palm out beneath his chin to catch any of the cream, lest he wanted to make everything around him sticky. Tears formed at the corners of the blond’s eyes and he sniffled pitifully, wiping at his cheeks and the peculiar whisker marks there. Sasuke was watching the whole ordeal with a brow arched at his fiancé. In his gut, he knew that Naruto was overreacting, but at the same time choking was one of those situations that usually was solved by calming down! “...”

With tears still dotting the corners of his eyes, the dark-skinned young man whined childishly and stuffed the ice-cream back into his mouth. “Naruto.” Sasuke said in an assertive tone. “Ah thshill wuhnna ead it…” The poor blond explained with his mouth full. Inhaling and exhaling through his nostrils, Sasuke closed his eyes and shook his head. No fussing. 

“Anyway,” He started, turning his head to look away with his lips poked out in a petulant expression. “I start work this Monday coming.”

“Waah?!” Naruto inquired, biting off a piece of his iced snack. He huffed out a cool breath of air. 

“It’s just your basic retail job.”

“Eeeh?!” 

“I’ll probably be at a register-” “Waaah?!” “-or stocking-” “Haaa?!”

“Shut up, Naruto.” Sasuke deadpanned. Every time the blond opened his mouth he was interrupting his fiancé. He had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Naruto gobbled up the rest of his ice-cream bar and pointed the popsicle stick at Sasuke accusingly. “You can’t do a job like that!!! You’re hardly even social. Why didn’t you tell me about the interview? Did you put air in the tires like I asked? You had the time to go to an interview but not to do your half of the chores?” Naruto placed his free hand on one of Sasuke’s on the back of the sofa, sitting on his knees to be nose-to-nose with his NEET partner. 

Sasuke bats his lashes and leans forward to push their lips together. This keeps Naruto quiet for about a millisecond before he’s pulling back to start his second long-winded tirade. Sadly, as he opened his mouth, Sasuke moved forward to capture his lips again. The blond’s lips were, unsurprisingly, sweet at the moment. Not a big fan of sweets, Sasuke was sacrificing his own palate to silence Naruto. A trooper, this one. 

This time he aimed to take the blond’s breath away. And based on the way Naruto was breathing heavy with a bright red face, he succeeded. 

Naruto had to shake his head to get back on track. “Y-you really got a job, Suke?” 

“Mn.” 

“And you’re fine with the circumstances?” 

“Mn.”

A big smile took over warm, fox-like features and Naruto recklessly jumped _over_ the sofa to tackle his fiancé to the floor. He peppered kisses all over Sasuke’s handsome face and sat on his middle, effectively keeping him pinned to hardwood- not that the slightly older man was going to stop him. Naruto leaned in to press his forehead against Sasuke’s, closing his eyes and smiling contentedly. “I’m proud of you, Sasuke.” His voice was warm, kind and genuine. He thumbed at Sasuke’s cheek, petting his soft, smooth skin. “You did good.” 

Sasuke’s eyes widened briefly before returning to his usual listless expression. His cheeks were a very faint shade of pink now. He didn’t realize he wanted to be praised until Naruto said that. 

Naruto leaned back up to shake out his hair, straddling Sasuke’s waist. 

“Took you long enough.” 

He remarked with a toothy grin on his face. He moved his hips suggestively on top of his fiancé, soliciting a soft noise from him. “Shall we reward you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, here we are with a brand new chapter, many months later! Expect more, I have plans!


	4. You're not funny!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A rollercoaster of emotions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was fun to write. Enjoy!   
> CW: As usual, there are a few sexual implications, but there isn't explicit, sexual content in this story.

The first day of work started normally for Sasuke. He got ready around the same time as Naruto, but since he finished earlier, he sat on the arm of the sofa with his hands between his knees as he watched the blond gather his things and pull his vest over his shoulders. Naruto was still half-asleep with a thick piece of toasted milk-bread sticking out of his mouth. For some reason, his breakfast came before his socks and shoes, hopping on one leg to pull one sock on before the other. When Naruto slid back into the living room, he was shoving the final bite of his toast into his mouth, chomping awkwardly. “Mmph!” Swallowing, he grinned from ear to ear at his fiancé. “Look at you, all dressed and ready to go.” Wedging himself between Sasuke’s knees, Naruto wrapped his fingers in the fabric of Sasuke’s long-sleeve black wool shirt beneath the required red and black uniform polo. He didn’t completely hate the design -the collar came up to the middle of his neck and there was a zipper instead of a row of buttons- the black and red half-and-half style made him feel like a clown, though. “Hey,” Naruto starts, leaning forward to ghost his lips over Sasuke’s with a smirk tugging on his own tanned features. “You’re cute.” He whispered playfully. 

Sasuke pulled a face and turned his head, thick black hair hiding the only eye Naruto could see at this angle. “I look like an idiot.” As stubborn as can be, Sasuke smiled to himself at Naruto’s compliment. The reticent attitude wasn’t doing it for Naruto, seeing as he leaned forward until Sasuke was falling back onto the couch cushions. He placed his chin between the older man’s collarbones. “You look good.” He insists, praising his fiancé all the while petting up and down his arms -both of them. Unable to pull his arms out of Naruto’s grasp, Sasuke blushed a darker shade of red and flicked his hair out of his face to glare at the mischievous blond on top of him. The blond fluttered his eyes closed and stuck his lips out, pressing them together for maximum kissing power and- “Naruto!” Sasuke pulled his right arm free and pushed his palm smack-dab in the middle of his fiancé’s face. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?” His frown was etched deep into his handsome face. “Hhh, you can be such a baby sometimes, Suke.” Naruto complained, and instinctively rolled off of Sasuke, not accounting for the width of the sofa. He landed on his face on the hardwood floor. 

“-- _ow_!”

* * *

Sasuke stood with a bored, stoic face as he waited for customers to come down his check-out line. Every now and then a shopper rolled by with their cart and nodded their head, waved or said a small greeting and he did his very best to respond. Resisting the urge to yawn, he tapped his fingers against the counter and counted the very, very slow minutes as they passed. “Hey.” Sasuke leaned his hip against the area the register was propped on and folded his arms one over the other. Could he slip a five-minute nap in here? “ _Hey._ ” Sasuke closed his eyes and- “HEY.”

“ **What**.” Sasuke said roughly, glancing over his shoulder at the person talking to him. He used his social anxiety-driven perception abilities to scan the face behind him. (One could say that he had the eye of _insight_. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.) White hair, plum-colored eyes and… _are those serrated teeth?_ The man raised both of his hands and opened his arms as he walked over to Sasuke and his stranger-danger siren was going off madly at the back of his head. “Sasuke. Long time no see.” _Shit._ The situation has changed quickly and now Sasuke has to remember this person’s name as a basic courtesy because his was remembered. He couldn’t for the life of him put a name to this weird, big-eyed face. A cold bead of sweat formed on Sasuke’s brow and he darted his eyes in one direction. “See where?” He asked, hoping to come off as cool and collected and maybe a little dickish? Not scared and anxious, and worried that he was being recognized from his hack (Pun intended.) stream. 

“Orientation!” The other man placed his hands on his hips as he smiled with jagged teeth. 

Silence. (As silent as a grocery store can get before midday rush.) 

The awkward silence lasted long enough to make his cheeks hurt. The man stopped smiling, and Sasuke eventually opened his mouth to talk. “...What is orientation?” 

…

“...Where we learned those mundane tasks like bagging and gathering shopping carts.” Rubbing an index finger against his chin thoughtfully, the man with the sharp teeth hummed thoughtfully. “I recall everyone ogling you like _you_ were the poorly made powerpoint.” He nudged Sasuke with an elbow. “Y’know what I mean?” And pushed an eyebrow high into the air. 

“No.”

“Keh.” This was hard -he didn’t expect Sasuke to be _hard_ to talk to. Closing his eyes defeatedly, the man rubbed at the nape of his neck with an open palm and offered his other hand for Sasuke to shake. “Hōzuki Suigetsu. You can call me Suigetsu.” Reluctant to take a stranger’s hand, Sasuke tugged on the sleeve of his shirt and covered up to the middle of his palm with fabric _before_ shaking hands with the other man. “Uchiha Sasuke.” Suigetsu smiled, baring a sharp tooth. “I know! I remember your name tag. You don’t talk much, do you?” Suigetsu gave Sasuke’s hand a squeeze, even though that seemed to make Sasuke’s eyes glaze with -he’s assuming- disgust. “No.” 

Releasing Sasuke’s hand from his grasp, Suigetsu returned to his own line. He was directly behind the other man. Sasuke folded his arms and closed his eyes. He survived an encounter with a stranger. _And_ there weren’t customers in his line. “You don’t really seem like the type to work at a boring grocery store.” Suigetsu leaned over the counter connected to his conveyer belt and smiled at Sasuke’s back. _Dammit._ The conversation wasn’t over? What in the world? Sasuke decided that the smartest option here was to stop responding. He’d either convince Suigetsu that he had selective mutism or that he was really passionate about his new part-time job. His nose scrunched and he tapped his fingers against his upper arm. “Why did you choose this place?” The ivory-haired man asked with his head tilted like a curious, nosy great-white trying to butt into other people’s business. Gag.   
Looking over his shoulder, Sasuke peered at Suigetsu with his uncovered eye. He narrowed his eyes and decided that he didn’t want to look at Suigetsu after all. He turned his head. “Money.” 

‘ _Why else would I be here?_ ’ Sasuke thought to himself, resisting the urge to roll his eyes lest a customer decided to profit from that by reporting him to HR. Suigetsu dragged his thoughtful little ‘Ooo’ noise for a second longer than necessary and rubbed his chin with an open hand. “You broke?” He asked - his tone was more accusatory than enquiry. Sasuke glared at the aisle of drinks in front of his check-out lane. “...” From behind, Suigetsu seen Sasuke’s shoulders slumping and his head dip down. He saw his hesitant look at his conveyor belt, too. The only thing he couldn’t see was the discomfort in his eyes because his hair was in the way. This guy was a lot more expressive than he’d initially thought. Apparently words weren’t the only way to convey feelings. 

“I’m not… _broke_.” His cheeks turned a bright shade of red, an image of his hard-working fiancé coming to mind. The main reason he wasn’t strapped for cash. (Not that Naruto wasn’t reminding him that he needed to find a proper source of income to continue lazing in finery.) Besides, he wanted to be able to help with the bills. He _wanted_ to support Naruto; _their conversations in high school all the way through their college years usually involved Sasuke being labeled the ‘manlier’ of the two. Apparently his personality was more dominant than Naruto’s. Naruto was a very strong-willed man and he always spoke his mind but he was kind-hearted and perpetually warm. His entire persona was like the embodiment of the sun. And Sasuke was simply the moon lit dimly in his place whenever he couldn’t shine. The back-up radiance._ In his current position, he wasn’t confident in his ability to do that. Hell, he wasn’t confident at all. 

“I’m just between careers and-“

“Whoa, for a moment there I was worried that I’d been talking to one of those new androids and you were malfunctioning! Were you daydreaming? Or maybe you had a painful wedgie you couldn’t pick out with eyes on you?” Suigetsu cut Sasuke off to mock him for the _minute_ He was silent. Needless to say, Sasuke was peeved. Sasuke _silently_ glared at Suigetsu and folded his arms to lean against the register drawer but narrowly missed the thing and fell on his ass on painful epoxy-coated vinyl tiles. “Pfft!” Suigetsu slapped his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing at Sasuke’s misfortune and focused on the very first customer to walk down his checkout line. He smiled with his usually protruding fang with his eyes closed as he greeted them. “Hello!” And started ringing up their basket’s contents. 

Sasuke wanted to stay tucked under the counter. In fact, he’d broken an employee rule of the store by keeping his phone on him. He decided that this was the perfect moment to text his fiancé. _Perfect._

* * *

 **Sasuke:** Holy shit, Naru, there’s this dude here. I hate him.  
 **Naruto:** What? Who? 0: I hate him too! 

Leaning over his conveyor belt, having successfully serviced his customer, the white-haired young man smirked and wore a toothy grin that gleamed in the fluorescent lighting. “Sasuke? Did you break your hip down there?” Suigetsu teases sarcastically. 

**Sasuke:** I’ll tell you about it when I get home-

* * *

“Is that your shtick, Suigetsu? Making everyone sick of you with sarcasm and bad jokes?” Sasuke stood up with his hands on his hips, scowling. “It’s working.” He said with a very-not-happy tone. He was used to scolding his fiancé in the very same way that his fiancé scolds his babies in Pre-K 3, meaning that his voice came out sounding like he was scolding a toddler. Based on the way Suigetsu looked at him, he must have heard that. Embarrassed, Sasuke turned his back to Suigetsu and returned to working. 

This was going to be a lot harder now. 

_The rest of his very first work day_ was a cinch. He wasn’t smiling at the customers- saying _that_ would be a blatant lie. He cut the difference and remembered to tell everyone to have a nice day. At the end of the day Sasuke was gathering his crap out of the provided lockers in the back and shoving everything into the bag he was planning to sling over his shoulder. Unfortunately for him, Suigetsu’s locker was a number or two away from his. The first thing that annoying jerk did was make himself known by talking directly behind Sasuke’s _ear_. “Whoa, is that a _fake_ hand?”

The hair on the back of Sasuke’s neck stood up and his knee-jerk reaction to elbow Suigetsu in the face kicked in. His arm swung back and the white-haired man ducked in time to avoid the attack, but didn’t take into account the fact that Sasuke could simply bring his arm down and elbow him in the head. “ _Ow_!” The darker haired man glared down at Suigetsu even as he rubbed the top of his head, crouched down near the bench in the middle of the walkway in defeat. “Hn.” Opening and closing his right hand to crack his knuckles, Sasuke grabbed his bag and slipped his other arm through a loop and slammed his locker closed, walking around the dumbass on the floor and stomping out of the back room. 

Digging his pocket out of his phone, he texted Naruto that he’d be home in twenty.

* * *

Sasuke groaned in frustration as he tipped his head back onto Naruto’s shoulder. He was seated between the blond’s legs with his back slouched against his chest and Naruto’s arms wrapped around his middle. They were propped up on the bed in the master bedroom with the television on a random channel. Naruto nosed at Sasuke’s temple and stippled kisses down the side of his face. “M’sorry you didn’t enjoy your first day working, Sasu.” Sasuke could feel Naruto’s frown against his skin. He closed his eyes and folded his arms over his chest, layering them over his fiancé’s. He’d shed his uniform by now, still in the black shirt he was wearing beneath that and a pair of black silk boxers Naruto bought for him last year. 

He stayed quiet for a bit, simply enjoying the warmth of Naruto’s steadily breathing chest and their synced heartbeats before he continued the conversation. “As long as I can check in and check out, I can focus on the tasks. I’ll have to ignore everything else, or I’ll be arrested.” Naruto made a dramatic sniffling noise, suggesting he was choking back tears and squeezed Sasuke in his arms, moving side to side. “So strong!” He praised, his own eyes closed in their usually vulpine way. “Handsome, strong, patient, is there anything you can’t do?!” He tipped his head in to kiss the corner of Sasuke’s mouth. He brought one of his hands up to tilt his fiancé’s head to better position him for kisses. Upside down or not, he wanted full lip-on-lip contact. Sasuke calmly meshed his lips with Naruto’s and breathed in the warm scent of sunlight and honey on the blond’s tanned skin. 

_Blip!_

Their kiss was cut short as Sasuke pulled back to sit up, allowing his fingers to trace over the short golden hairs on Naruto’s arm. “That was my computer.” He patted Naruto’s limb, signaling for him to be released. Naruto whined, but he allowed Sasuke to leave his arms and watched as the older man dawdled over to the computer and moved the mouse to turn the screen on. He put in the password to his user account and clicked the Voice-and-Text chat app icon on the bottom of his screen. Once that was opened, Sasuke’s shoulders visibly stiffened and his eyes widened at the sight of the message. 

Naruto noticed the change in body language and moved to the side of the bed, draping his legs over the edge and leaning forward to get a peek at the computer. “What’s wrong?” He asked with a serious expression on his usually amiable face. 

“It’s… _Kiba_.” Sasuke explained. Apparently, he’d been trying to contact Sasuke for several days now. Naruto sucked his teeth incredulously and crossed his arms like a big baby, poking his lips out at the mention of that name. “What the hell does he want?!” See! This is the very reason that Naruto wanted to punch Kiba in the face. Well, not the _very_ reason, but-

“I’ll figure it out. Hang on.” Sasuke turned his swivel chair around and took a seat, spinning around to face the keyboard and typing in a response.

* * *

 _(Old messages.)_  
 **Redfang:** Sasa! Where’d you go, buddy? xxx  
 **Redfang:** all that shit was super c razy, huh?  
 **Redfang:** like wow, u didn;t even do anything lmfao   
_(Today.)_  
 **Redfang:** okay ur seriously pissing me off dude  
 **Redfang:** like i could understand if i MADE you download the client but lol ;;;;  
 **Sasaukage:** I never said you made me download it.   
**Redfang:** u can’t just like, start ignoring people  
 **Sasaukage:** It’s not like I chose to leave Konoha. So.  
 **Redfang:** YOU WHINY BABY  
 **Redfang:** LOL  
 **Sasaukage:** Kiba.  
 **Redfang:** fine. i was the one who kicked u out of Konoha :monkaS:   
**Sasaukage:** Look. I really don’t feel like talking about this right now. But we’re going to talk about it. When are you free? You still live in [JAPAN] right?  
 **Redfang:** i mean, yeah but ufufufu, don’t u have a like, bf?  
 **Sasaukage:** That’s not why I’m coming over. Gimme your address, I’ll see you whenever. Night.

* * *

Naruto glared at the computer screen as he watched Sasuke type every response with a calm expression on his face. How in the hell is he doing that? The way Kiba types makes Naruto want to stick his hands _through_ the computer screen and wring his throat. Ick. And that bit about Sasuke having a ‘bf’ made him feel this weird mix of petty and angry. Pangry? Antty? Point is, Kiba was bad news and everything about him made Naruto sick to his stomach. He glanced at Sasuke with his eyes narrowed, stormy blue eyes barely visible through a sliver of tawny, bronzed skin. “That talk will be no longer than _thirty minutes_ and if I find out that you were over there for any longer I’m going to punish you.” Naruto stuck his index finger out and poked Sasuke’s cheek, rubbing the pad of his finger into a dimple in ‘threatening’ circles. “That little bastard deserves to be kicked in the teeth! But I’ll hold back for your sake.” On the off chance that this conversation between the two ‘streamers’ was going to get Sasuke’s old job back. He was happier playing games in the comfort of his own home, and Naruto didn’t want to get in the way of that. 

Sasuke closed his eyes as Naruto ‘assaulted’ him with his pointer finger and slowly tipped his head to the side. “I get it, I get it.” Naruto pulled his hand away and threw both of his arms up. “Is my beloved fiancé getting a harem? And I’m just watching it happen?” Naruto ‘thought’ out loud as he walked out of the bedroom door. “I think I need ramen.” He dragged his feet to the kitchen and searched the cabinet for the cheapest, saltiest cup ramen he could find in there. 

Sasuke glanced over a shoulder at the bedroom door for a prolonged second, sweat dropping. Naruto’s always been a very childish person, and Sasuke’s always been very patient with him but this specific comment really bothered him. _And was Naruto seriously going to eat cup noodles passed 10PM?_ That sodium was going to kill him faster than the played-out Shakespearean gag he was doing over Sasuke hating other men. Sasuke draped his arm over the back of the swivel chair and waited two to three minutes for Naruto to return. When he didn’t appear in the doorway, Sasuke heaved a sigh and pushed his chair back. 

Entering the kitchen, he looked at Naruto with a brow arched. The blond was staring at his cooking noodles with his hands propped beneath his chin and his elbows on the counter, leaning over the steaming cup of noodles with a dazed look on his face. Sasuke brought Naruto back to Earth by giving him a firm slap on his backside. “Hey!” Naruto yelped, glaring at Sasuke with his hands covering both of his cheeks. 

“Why are you moping?” 

“M’not moping. I’m waiting for my ramen to cook.”

Sasuke closed the distance between himself and his fiancé, closing the blond in with his hands on either side of him on the counter. Naruto puffed his cheeks out, holding his breath stubbornly. Sasuke pressed his chest against the blond’s back, successfully trapping him. Sasuke leaned in to press his lips against the shell of one of the blond’s ears. “You look like you’re moping.” He murmurs. “Talk to me.” 

Naruto shook his head. 

Rolling his eyes, the older man leaned forward to tuck his chin in the junction between Naruto’s neck and shoulder. He pressed his hips forward. “Naruto…” Naruto was practically an immovable object at times like this. Sasuke slipped a hand beneath Naruto’s shirt, and the second one followed a short time later. Naruto tensed up. By now his face was red! In his rush to snap his hands to his face to hide his flush, Naruto accidentally knocked the cup noodles over. The very hot broth spilled onto the counter and narrowly missed the pair because the brunet looped his arms around Naruto’s middle and pulled him back. As a bonus, he may have lifted his lover a few inches off of the ground, a necessary, defensive reflex to the hot (essentially) saltwater currently dripping onto the floor.

Naruto had to bite his tongue. No use crying over spilled ramen-

_-but he really wanted to cry._

Sasuke’s lids were heavy by now, staring at the growing mess. Naruto lowers his head. “Okay, I’ll stop.” He forfeits, quietly. Sasuke doesn’t unravel his arms from the blond’s waist, seeing as he didn’t get his fill of touching him. Leaning in to prod his lips against the blond’s cheek, he wordlessly requested a kiss from his fiancé. Naruto leaned back to avoid Sasuke’s insistent push, the older man leaned forward and for the second time in a single day, Sasuke was _slipping_ on a hard floor. This time it was Naruto’s fault. Socks + sodium-water + hardwood = a tangled mess of legs and arms and alligator tears from a respected ‘teacher.’

“Hhhh-” Naruto wrenched his eyes closed and Sasuke exhaled through his nostrils. He leaned over his fiancé’s body and closed his eyes as he kissed his blond’s jaw. “I’ll clean up. Go to bed.” 

This was one of those moments that Naruto’s mixed feelings took the wheel and he responded without thinking about the words before they were tumbling out of his mouth. “Lucky!~” And only really considered his response as Sasuke kissed his neck and _smiled_ there. Leaning back to have their eyes meet, the brunet leaned in until their noses touched. “Trust me, Naruto.”

“I never said I didn’t trust you.” 

“You didn’t have to.”

The younger man’s brow furrowed. The glint in his eye suggested that he wanted to say something to match the somber mood, but the wet feeling on the back of his shirt changed his attitude in a matter of seconds. Naruto angrily blinked his eyes _somehow_. “I’m covered in a fallen soldier’s insides.” He used a significantly deeper voice like he was the narrator in some bad blockbuster film. “I wanna take a bath-”

“Take a bath, then.”

“Let me _finish_ , ne.” Naruto pressed his lips against Sasuke’s. “I wanna take a bath with you.” Sasuke blinked at the surprisingly sweet peck he received from his formerly pouting fiancé and the corner of his own mouth raised in a smile. “Good boy.” 

…

 

“ _Wait. You mean like, a dog? Or something?_ ”

Oop-


End file.
